One of the secondary stories from Computex was that AMD and its partners were set to launch a new generation of mid-range chipsets and motherboards with the new lower-power version of the chipset. The B450 chipset is the direct successor to B350, with lower power and features such as Precision Boost 2, XFR2, and StoreMI support. The planned release of 28 motherboard models is sure to add variety to the market and we take a quick look at all the boards ahead of the launch from vendors such as MSI, ASRock, ASUS, and GIGABYTE.

The new generation of AMD’s motherboards is here at last. While there’s not much in the way of “new” tech on this launch, it does look like it’ll be tackling an important mid-budget price bracket for the market. With all the experience they’ve gained from their X370 and B350 motherboards, it looks like they’ll be merging the two into B450. What that means is plenty of high-end features, support for 2000 series Ryzen CPUs and all their respective features, overclocking and more. Furthermore, it’s basically almost all the features of a high-end X470 solution at a much more competitive price. Of course, for high-end overclockers, those pushing their hardware to more extremes, X470 is still an appealing option. However, for the vast majority of those building gaming rigs at home, B450 is more than likely everything you’ll need.

A prime candidate at £100. AMD introduced the performance X470 chipset alongside the new-and-improved Ryzen 2000-series family of processors in April 2018. At the same time, however, AMD also mentioned the B450 chipset, designed for mainstream systems where price is more of a concern.

Much like the X370-X470 transition, not a lot has changed from B350 to B450, and the following graphic spells out the minor improvements.

With the launch of the new AMD B450 budget focused chipset, we’re taking a look at two Fatal1ty gaming branded ASRock motherboards; the B450 Gaming ITX/ac and the Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4. Both models look to offer good value for money to gamers on a strict budget but don't need features such as NVIDIA SLI multi-graphics card support.

The ASRock B450 Gaming ITX/ac features a miniITX form factor and is a direct replacement to the previous B350 Gaming ITX/ac motherboard. As expected, this particular model is marketed at gamers looking to build a smaller form factor gaming system with the focus on either a single graphics card or with use with one of the Ryzen based APUs, the Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G. The gaming branding is signified via the use of a pairing of red metallic heatsinks and a pair of red colored RAM slots.

ASRock has applied the Fatal1ty treatment to AMD's B450 chipset, and in a way that only ASRock can; using the Mini-ITX format. It's not often that we get such a truly gaming-oriented mITX product, that can also handle some overclocking, and supports 3466 MHz memory speeds.

Mesh networking was a fairly specialised concept a couple of years ago. But now products are arriving on a regular basis, and ASUS is even on its second range after the original Lyra that we reviewed last year. The Lyra Trio builds on the excellent capabilities of the original Lyra, but throws in a healthy dollop of style in a similar vein to the ASUS Blue Cave. However, the Trio is as different from the original Lyra under the hood as it is in appearance.

This is still a three-pack option, like the original Lyra. But the units have an arched top, with a light blue tinge underneath like the Blue Cave making them much more stylish in appearance. However, whilst this trio of arches might look aesthetic (in a sci-fi kind of way), they’re not just shaped like this for appearances only. The three legs of the arches actually contain the aerials for the 3×3 MIMO radio.

This is an upgrade on the original Lyra, which had a 2×2 antenna configuration. However, things are a bit more complicated than this, because whilst the Lyra is tri-band, the Lyra Trio is dual-band, offering AC1750 performance compared to the original Lyra’s AC2200. This sounds like a downgrade, but the individual 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios are both faster than the Lyra’s. You get 450Mbits/sec over 2.4GHz and 1,300MHz over 5GHz. So it’s all a bit “swings and roundabouts”.

The latest wave of motherboards from AMD have just landed, and they’re out to impress. While not as feature packed as the current Ryzen flagship X470 series, they’re focusing on a balance between price and features for the mass market. Extreme overclockers and system builders will no doubt still want X470. However, for most system builders and gamers, B450 ticks all the right boxes, offering NVMe RAID support, overclocking, and much more.

With the new ASUS motherboard packing support for Aura Sync RGB lighting tech, Intel Gigabit Ethernet, GameFirst, one-click optimisation and overclocking, and the fantastic SupremeFX S1220A audio hardware and Sonic Studio III, it’s pretty robust on paper. Of course, none of this tech is particularly new either, so we know it’s all good stuff. It seems to blend the high-end hardware of X370 and X470 with the more cost-focused B350 range, leaving us with the new B450 hardware. It’s a bit of a refresh, but a promising looking one so far. Plus, it’ll offer support for 2000-series Ryzen CPUs right out of the box.

We have seen a lot of keyboards recently. Full-sized, Compact, RGB, Customizable, Gaming, Mechanical are all terms we have seen used. Cooler Master has provided us with their new CK552 Full RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard that is all of those things wrapped in one package. Lets check it out and see what Cooler Master has done.

The packaging for the Cooler Master CK552 Full RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is easily recognizable by that wonderful Purple that Cooler Master loves to use. The Cooler Master logo with their ever-present tag line “Make It Yours” and the CK552 in large white letters are both minimized by the spectacular picture of the CK552 Gaming Keyboard on the box front. Lit up with a dazzling display of RGB lights it reminds me of a beautifully decorated Christmas tree.

The Cooler Master Masterbox K500L is a PC case expected to be somewhere before or between the Cooler Master Masterbox MB500, depending on what you want and can pay for. The comparison is made with the Masterbox MB500 because that’s what it is. The main difference is the lack of additional features and different front panel design. There are also some minor differences such as the installation of the front panel I.O- beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Ah the gaming headset, just like any type of gaming product these days the market is saturated making it hard for you the consumer to choose which headset is the best for you. Typically as consumers we grade products based on their price, but a lot of the time the quality and performance do not match the price. Today we are checking out a gaming headset that comes in at a very affordable $49, but offers some amazing performance. That headset is the Cougar Phontum which features 53 mm dual-chamber drivers, two different sizes of included earpads, and a sleek design. Cougar says this headset was “created for those who want to enjoy great audio in long gaming sessions” and we are going to put that to the test.

The AMD B450 series chipset is here, with the full-size ATX MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC. MSI is walking the tightrope of a budget board that still offers a premium experience, for example it has two M.2 slots, full RGB support and WiFi.

It is once again time to talk about a new chipset from AMD. This particular release, the B450 chipset, is no surprise. After the refresh of the X370 in the way of the X470 earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before the B300 series got the same treatment. The differences between the the old B300 series and new B400 series are pretty minor. However, the board we are looking at today is anything but minor. The MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC from MSI brings a lot more to the table than you might expect from a refreshed midrange board, and it is my pleasure to use it in this review as introduction to the chipset.

The MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC is a fully sized ATX board featuring everything we have come to expect from mainstream performance motherboards. The board features two M.2 slots, the first of which is covered by a thermal solution to increase drive performance and longevity. An impressive array of heatsinks cover the VRM and chipset to negate the risk of thermal throttling no matter the work load or climate. Add in a fully fleshed out audio solution, MSI Mystic Light, and Mystic Light Sync for expandable RGB support, and an especially beefy VRM design, and the MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC could be a true gaming powerhouse.

The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD we'll be showing you here today is the follow-up to the SanDisk Extreme 510 Portable SSD. This new drive fully embraces USB-C while retaining USB Type-A compatibility for older Macs and PCs. It promises speedy storage (up to 550 MB/s claimed), a wide range of capacities (250GB, 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB), and an IP55 rating against dust and water intrusion...